What is Prayer Journaling and How to Start a Daily Journaling Habit

A daily journaling habit has been life-changing for many people, including Christian women. As a woman of faith, creating a prayer journal is a powerful way to connect with God and stay anchored to God’s promises, no matter what comes your way.

In fact, using a prayer journal is how I first started having a daily quiet time. It was through this simple habit that gave me the confidence to start reading the Bible and led me towards a powerful prayer life. It can do the same for you! Let me show you how!

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What is Prayer Journaling?

Prayer journaling is a personal reflection of your relationship with God. It’s the place where you meditate on God’s faithfulness, record your deepest hurts, and write intimate prayers to your heavenly Father. Since it’s a collection of your personal thoughts, how you use a prayer journal is completely up to you! (But don’t worry, I’ll help you every step of the way!)

Starting a journal isn’t one more thing to add to your to do list. Instead, it’s an extension of your prayers and relationship with God. This prayer resource can be life-changing as you learn to surrender your burdens, and record how God is working in your life.

Why Should You Start a Daily Journaling Habit?

Whether you’re a new Christian or a seasoned believer, adding a quiet time journal to your prayer time can impact your life in a powerful way.

Explore the reasons below why adding a faith journal will bless you immensely and help you grow closer to your Heavenly Father.

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Deepen your relationship with God

If you long to grow in faith, cultivating a daily quiet time will help you meet with God and know Him intimately. Through seeking the Lord each morning (and throughout the day), you’ll get to know His steadfast character and trust in His unwavering strength.

When you pray or read the Bible, God is faithful to meet you there in your seeking. It’s in those still, quiet moments before God where your faith blooms and you learn to trust God in all seasons of life.

As you record your prayers and blessings in your daily journaling time, you’ll have a record of how God is moving and working in your life.

 

Track prayer requests and praises

No matter the prayer requests that are heavy on your heart, journaling can help you track your requests and celebrate your praises. It’s a great place to write down when someone needs prayer or how you can pray for someone when they are hurting.

I love to date my prayer requests so I know when I started praying for an issue and when God answered. Some needs are more dire than others, and it’s amazing to watch the journey of an answered prayer!

Remember God’s blessings and faithfulness

God is powerful, mighty, and worthy of praise! Recording God’s blessings and the miracles He worked is a powerful tool of hope you’ll have at your fingertips when the storms of life come pounding at your door.

Using a prayer journal will help you reflect on God’s provision and praise God for the many ways He worked in your life.

Just as in Joshua 4, you’ll have a tangible stone of remembrance every time you feel down or overwhelmed. When you need to remember that God is good and worthy to be praised, open your journal and marvel at God’s goodness and faithfulness.

Then, watch as the hope of God floods your soul and helps you stand firm in faith once again.

“…tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.” Joshua 4:7

Write Scripture and Understand Scripture

Even seasoned Christian women can struggle to read the Bible or to have a daily quiet time. I started “Writing the Word” in my daily journal and it was a simple way to start studying the Bible as a beginner.

Writing the Word is a simple Bible study method that focuses your heart around one verse or topic.

How to write the Word in your journal:

• Write the Bible verse(s) out word for word in your journal
• Use Bible Gateway to look up other translations
• Look up unfamiliar words or to gain clarity on how a word is used in context
• Take it a step further by reading and/or writing the verse before or after your original verse
• Then, reflect on the verses your wrote when times are tough or when you need to remember God’s faithfulness

Celebrate daily gratitude

Do you intentionally celebrate God’s blessings each day or thank God for His unwavering faithfulness? Using your faith journal as a gratitude journal is a powerful way to cultivate a heart of thanksgiving and praise God for His many blessings.

Then, when life is hard and filled with uncertainty, revisit your daily gratitude entries and remember the ways God has blessed you.

Release your burdens before God

When problems fester in our mind and heart, they can be dangerous. They may feel bigger than they are or bitterness and anger may take root.

By journaling, you have a tangible way to release your burdens to God and trust God to move on behalf of these situations. Your prayer journal is the perfect place to release your pent up frustrations and pour your heart out to a loving and faithful God.

Manage emotions with God’s truth

Christian women are not immune to anxiety and depression. Yet prayer journaling has been known to greatly help those that suffer from anxiety and/or depression trust God with their mental health.

When you release your burdens to God on paper, you can begin to notice triggers that cause you to feel a certain way. Then, you can pray through a plan to help you stand firm in faith when the tough moments come and threaten to swallow you whole.

Renew your mind with biblical truths

As a woman of faith, it’s not enough just to hear God’s Word on Sunday morning in church. Instead, we’re to meditate on God’s truth and savor it throughout the day.

A prayer journal is the perfect place to keep a list of God’s truth to reflect on in your quiet time. By knowing and renewing your mind with the truth of God, you’ll be able to combat the lies of the enemy.

You’ll be able to compare the lies of the world against biblical principles and be able to stand firm in faith. Just as Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, we are to refute temptation and struggles with the Word of God.

Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ Matthew 4:4

As you can see, there are many great reasons you should start a daily prayer journaling habit. May this prayer resource help you jump start your relationship with God and cultivate a thriving prayer life in no time!